05 Aug 2021
Bramble - Where communities come to gather.
Attended the meetup "A Shifting Landscape: How Community Builders are Adapting" in Bramble from 9:30 am - 10:30 am.
It was a fireside chat - Neal Ludevig (producer, curator, environmentalist, artist, entrepreneur), Erin Staples (Community Advisor at Orbit, community, online learner), Salimah Ebrahim (Co-founder at Artery, Bramble, write stories, paint), Gabrielle Leith (organizer, host).
Erin - spoke about understanding the audience, accessibility for people to get on the event, meet others, tech like mirrored drawing boards, documents, etc.
Neal - spoke about planting seeds during 2020, experimentation, the importance of good intention, his mental health advocacy, challenges, etc.
Spoke about products like DialUp/Quarantine Chat, streaming views from windows, etc.
Hybrid events = IRL (In Real Life) + livestream.
Hybrid events - Neal and Erin had different reactions I guess.
Both of them and Salimah agreed on the importance of the connection one feels with the others who come to an event.
There was a short discussion on whether a larger than necessary gathering could hurt the intention.
I personally think it totally depends on the event and how it gets hosted.
Neal tried to articulate the experience by speaking about a recent event where
there were many strangers from all over the world trying to solve numbers to get the
key to different worlds where they'd meet a bunch.
The experience
I liked Bramble and could immediately think of it being used for immersive virtual meetings, hangs, - say for classrooms/schools (could create a virtual world for the whole school or even office buildings - we may add interfaces to additional worlds inside certain office rooms like labs). Real people and unreal worlds.
I came inside the building (Bramble HQ) and a real person greeted me at the door. They asked me to use arrow keys on my keyboard to navigate to the elevator.
I saw my avatar move around like a curious kid wandering the corridor, saw meeting rooms filled with avatars, being able to see and hear the occasional avatars (real people) walking by. I took the elevator to the rooftop to hear birds chirping, wind, and see mountains. The particular space I was asked to go (to the left after I exit the elevator) had a center stage and many avatars on the stage and hanging around on the lawn.
Neal also spoke about a marketing campaign for Harlem Arts Fest using fliers
faring better than online-only marketing, and EDDD (Every door direct delivery) from USPS.
Community building was indeed a new topic for me.
So I held judgment and was there with an open mind.
I learned that there are no wrong answers if your intent is good.
Danielle was there backstage for a while.
I had a hard stop at 10:30 for work at 11. However, I stayed a bit to check out what happens in the space which was the rooftop of a building.
Spoke to Neal, Erin, and Salimah.
Am in awe at the creative and multimedia-intensive technology Bramble built which brings together people in a virtual world. A world that is fun and easy to navigate like walking through a park, a convention center, office building, or a rooftop bar.
I loved the idea and wish the best to Bramble!
21 Aug 2021
Onam is a rice harvest festival celebrated in the modern-day state of Kerala. - the land and community of Malayali (Malayalam speaking) people.
Good food and community!
This day was filled with teamwork, love, and happiness.
The group artwork below is a pookkalam (flower rangoli).
One among the many made by people during this time of the year worldwide to celebrate Onam.
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